Comparison of xTAG Respiratory Virus Panel and Verigene Respiratory Virus Plus for Detecting Influenza Virus and Respiratory Syncytial Virus

BACKGROUND: Nucleic acid amplification tests have allowed simultaneous detection of multiple respiratory viruses. METHODS: We compared the results of a liquid bead array xTAG Respiratory Virus Panel (RVP; (Luminex Corporation, Toronto, Canada) and a solid microarray Verigene Respiratory Virus Plus (RV+; Nanosphere, Northbrook, IL) for the detection of influenza A virus (INF A), influenza B virus (INF B), and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in 170 respiratory specimens from hospitalized patients. RESULTS: Overall, xTAG RVP demonstrated sensitivities and specificities of 97.6 and 100% for INF A, 100 and 99.4% for INF B, and 100 and 100% for RSV, while the Verigene RV+ test sensitivities and specificities were 95.1 and 98.5%, 100.0 and 99.4%, and 97.1 and 100%, respectively. There were no significant differences in the area under the curves between the two assays for each virus (P = 0.364 for INF A, P = 1.000 for INF B, P = 0.317 for RSV). Comparing the results of two assays, discordant results were present mostly due to subtype assignments and identification of coinfections. The detection of viruses was not significantly different (P = 1.000) and the virus/subtype assignment showed good agreement with kappa coefficients of 0.908. CONCLUSION: The xTAG RVP and Verigene RV+ showed high sensitivities and specificities, and good overall agreement in detection and identification of INF and RSV. These assays can be used in clinical settings for a reliable detection of respiratory viruses found commonly in hospitalized patients.